Brush



Nov. 29, 1932. U! ZERK 1,889,395

BRUSH Filed Sept. 8, 1931 W w WW w m E 3 4 9 s 1 1 u n u U W! 1 INVENTOR.

O wu- 21/1] A TTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 29, 1932 messes PATENT oFFmE OSCAR U. ZERK, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO BRUSH Application filed September 8, 1931. Serial No. 561,546.

This invention relates to brushes and more particularly to brushes used for cleaning purposes in connection with cleaning liquids and under conditions where the bristles of the 5 brush may spatter the cleaning liquid.

Typical of such uses of brushes is the use for cleaning the fingers and finger nails for toilet purposes and with soapy water, and I therefore have illustrated and described my 10 invention herein, as applied to finger and finger nail brushes.

As is well known, the vigorous use of a finger nail brush spatters the soapy water undesirably and not only deposits it around 15 the basin or upon the mirror adjacent the basin rendering them messy and unsightly, but unless exceedingly great care is exercised will spatter upon the clothing of the user entailing otherwise unnecessary cleaning ex- 0 pense.

Heretofore, nail brushes have been proposed provided with guides ofvarious types for directing the application of the brush bristles to the extreme ends of the fingers or 5 under the nails, but these have been inconvenient to use and decidedly limited in their application, and have had little or no effect in restraining or stopping the spattering of the bristles.

In my present invention I employ preferably an elongated brush which may be relatively moved reciprooatorily over the finger nails or other partsof the body to be cleaned; and, generally at the ends of the brush, I 35 have provided splash shields or spatter shields to catch the soapy Water which spatters from thebristles in use. And in order topermit the brush to be moved with free, relatively long strokes, or to permit the fingers or hand to be so moved on the brush, I

have arranged the shields so that they will yield when the hand or fingers come in contact with them at the end of the stroke in N either direction. i9 Furthermore, Ifind that the movements of the splash shields will be constrained to prevent overthrow at either extreme position, because such overthrowing movements would cause particles of soap and Water or the like to be discharged from the shields after becoming deposited thereon during use of the brush.

WVhile in some aspects my invention contemplates employment of spatter shields entirely encompassing the brush bristles, I have found that the spatter may be effectively bafiied by shields disposed only at the ends of the brush inasmuch as substantially all of the splatter takes place in the direction of movement of the brush or of the hand on the brush reciprocatorily in use.

In order that splash shields or bafiles at the opposite ends of the brush may be detachably secured thereto for renewal purposes, and in order to render the brush and its applied shields pleasing and attractive in appearance, I prefer to seat the brush proper comprising a back and bristles, in a housing 'made from rubber or like material, the hous- P ing grlpping the back of the brush by its inherent resiliency and preferably entirely enclosing the back, and the housing having depending portions suitably formed to function as splash shields formed integrally therewith.

Itis therefore one of the objects of my invention to provide a brush provided at its opposite ends with spatter-bafliing means.

Another object of my invention is to provide an elongated brush adapted to be re- {7 cipro'cated in use longitudinally or upon which the fingers may be recipro-cated longitudinally, and provided with spatter-bafiiing means at the opposite longitudinal ends of the brush.

Another object is to provide a brush construction comprising a brush proper seated in a housing of rubber or like material and provided with bending or yielding spatter shields p q at the opposite ends thereof.

Another object is to provide a brush construction comprising a brush proper seated in a housing of rubber or like material and provided with bending or yielding spatter W shields at the opposite ends thereof and to so form the housing with suitably roughened surface to improve the grip of the user thereon.

Another object is to provide a brush of the a sitely disposed spatter-bathing shields and in which the shields will yield resiliently upon contact therewith of the fingers or hands of the operator.

Another object is to provide for brushes of the class described a quickly detachable housing-like cover provided with hinging or bending spatter-battling shields.

Another object is to provide a brush of the class referred to having spatter-baflling shields at the opposite ends thereof adapted to yield upon contact therewith of the hand or other part of the body being cleaned, and constructed to effect a relatively slow retractive movement after such yielding displacement.

Another object is to provide an integral housing of rubber or the like adapted to be resiliently stretched over the back proper of a brush to grippingly enclose the same, and provided with depending baiile portions at the opposite ends thereof adapted to function as spatter shields and to resiliently yield upon engagement therewith by the hand of the user.

Gther objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains.

My invention is fully disclosed in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a brush embodying my invention and illustrating a mode of operation thereof;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the embodiment of my invention in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the brush of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4- is an end elevational view of the brush of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the difierent figures of drawing in all of which like parts are desig nated by like reference characters, I have shown at- 1 a brush back and at 2 bristles thereof, the latter being arranged in small bunches, each projecting in parallel relation from a face of the back and helc in spaced r es not shown interspersed over the face of the back. The bristles may be secured in the back in any known or suitable manner well known in this art. And the bristles are all preferably trimmed to provide a substantially plain brush surface 4-.

The back 1 may be formed from any suitable material such as wood, rubber, celluloid, etc., these materials and the construction of the back 1 and bristles 2 forming no essential part of my invention.

At 5 is indicated generally a housing of rubber or like material con'iprising an elongated generally rectangular shallow cup 6 comprising a cup bottom 7, sides 8-8 and ends 9-9.

The cup-like housing 5 is preferably made slightly shorte than the overall length of the back 1 of the brush which to used therewith, and is assembled with the brush back 1 by stretchin the housing 5 longitudinally over the ends of the back. The transverse width of the housing 5 also is substantially the same or slightly smaller in dimension than the brush back, but this is not of great importance inasmuch as stretching the housing 5 longitudinally will contract it transversely. Thus the housing 5 when stretched into position over the back 1, grips the same on the entire periphery thereof and makes a water-tight connection therewith.

The external surface of the housing 5 may be rendered pleasing in appearance by giving to it a smooth, generally polished, appearance, or by any suitable ornamentation thereon, and I preferably apply a series of corrugations, such as those shown at 11 to the outer lateral surfaces of the housing which in combination with the longitudinally grooved surface thereof adjacent thereto will increase the frictional contact had by the hand of the user on the outer surface of said housing.

At opposite ends of the housing 5, it has formed integrally therewith a pair of depending shields 10-10. In their relaxed or normal condition, the shields 10 preferably depend at right angles to the surface 4 of the brush, and in cross-section are preferably curvilinear inwardly concave as shown in Fig. 3. The shield portions proper, 1010, are connected at their lateral edges to integrally formed wings 1212 extending the length of the shields 10 and at their upper ends joined integrally with the side walls 88.

The housing 5 is also formed at the bottom portion 7 thereof to slightly overhang, as at 1813, the other portions of the side walls 88, thus providing, in effect, a bead at 13 whereby the operator may firmly grip the housing and the brush therewithin with his thumb and fingers.

In the operation of the brush thus described and illustrated, the user grasps the housing 5 and the brush therewithin in one hand and either rubs the brush reciprocaterily longitudinally back and forth over the ends of the fingers, or, vice versa, rubs the fingers back and forth lon itudinally over the bristles. In order that each stroke may be full and free, the splash shields 1010 are constructed to yield when engaged by the fingers at the end of each stroke, one of the shields being illustrated in its yielding position in Fig. 1. As will be noted in that figure, the bending of the shield 10 occurs largely at the upper end thereof where it joins the housing 5 proper. This is accomplished by forming the cross-section of the shield to give sufficient resistance at oher points to prevent overthrowing flexing movements thereof.

The purpose of providing the long radius of bending is, as hereinbefore referred to,

lLlU

that the longer the radius the more slowly will the shield return to its normal position when pressure of the hand is removed therefrom and thus more completely will the tendency of the shield itself to effect spattering of soapy water thereon be overcome.

As will be apparent, the housing 5 and its depending shields may quickly and easily be detached from the brush when it is desired to renew the brush or upon those occasions when it may be desired to dlsintect or clean the brush as by boilin 'it, which operation might injure the rubber material of the housing 5 and shield 10.

It will also be apparent that a single size of housing 5 may be applied to brushes of considerably different longitudinal dimension inasmuch as the housing due to its inherent resilience will adapt itself to different sizes ofbrush back.

Also, as will be apparent, the watertight fit between the walls of the housing 5 and the brush back proper will prevent ingress of moisture to the narrow space between the brush back and the bottom 7 of the housng.

By the rubber construction, I overcome a tendency towards the quick movement of the splash shields, by using a curved or U shaped shield with a preferably deeper section at the beginning of the splash shield than at '-.he extreme end, or by making the splash shield thicker at the beginning and thinner at its open end or by making the shield of a semiresilient material over its entire length or by giving it a graduated resiliency, whereby the splash shield may be less resilient at the beginning and more resilient at the open end.

Having thus described my invention in certain enibbdinients, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made from the embodiments herein illustrated and described, but without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: V

, 1. A bristle brush provided with a spattershield overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles at each end of the brush.

2. A bristle brush provided with a pluralitv of spatter shields overlapplng and extendiiig beyond the ends of the bristles.

3. A bristle brush of elongated form provided with a splash shield overlapp ng and extending beyond the ends of the bristles at each end of the brush.

4. A brush comprising a back and bristles and a spatter shield flexibly movable upon the back and overlapping and extendmg beyond the ends of the bristles.

5. A brush comprising a back of elongated form and. bristles, and a pair of spatter shields flexibly movable on the back and overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles at the ends of the brush.

6. A brush comprising an elongated back and bristles therein and a pair of splash shields overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles and oppositely flexibly movable on the back, and at opposite ends of the brush.

'7. A brush comprising a back and bristles and a yieldingly movable spatter shield at the end of-the brush overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles of sufiicient length to have a relatively slow retractile movement. g V

8. A brush comprising a back and bristles and a yieldingly movable spatter shield at the end of the brush overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles of sufiicient length to have a retractile movement sufliciently slow to avoid discharging spatter from the shield. 1

9. A brush comprisinga back and bristles and a pair of flexible spatter shields disposed at the ends of the brush overlapping and extendin beyond the ends of the bristles.

10. A brush comprising a back and bristles and a spatter shield overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles and extending from the ends of the back in a dicover on the back having depending spatter shields overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles.

13. In combination, a brush comprising an elongated back and bristles and a cup-shaped resilient cover stretched longitudinally over the back and having spatter shield extensions at the ends thereof overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles.

14:. In combination, a brush comprising an elongated back and bristles and a cup-shaped resilient cover stretched longitudinally over the back and having a pair of integral spatter shield extensions at the ends thereof overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles.

15. In combination, a brush comprising a back and bristles, a cup-shaped rubber cover longitudinally resiliently stretched on the back and peripherally sealing it and a pair of rubber extensions on the cover overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles.

16. In combination, a brush comprising an elongated back and bristles, and a cup-shaped rubber cover for the back having integral resilient rubber spatter shields overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles.

17. In combination, a brush comprising a back and bristles, and a detachable resilient back cover, and a resilient dependent shield portion integral with the cover.

18. In combination, a brush comprising a back and bristles, and a back cover of rubber stretched upon the back, provided with hand gripping means and having depending end spatter shields overlapping and extending be yond the ends of the bristles.

19. As an article of manufacture, a cupsha-ped rubber housing adapted to be stretched longitudinally over a brush back and the cup skirt having opposite extensions resiliently depending therefrom.

20. In combination, a brush comprising a back and bristles, and a back cover of rubber stretched upon the back, provided With hand gripping means having outer laterally disposed roughened surfaces and having depending end spatter shields overlapping and extending beyond the ends of the bristles.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature this 5 day of Sept, 1931.

OSCAR U. ZERK. 

